'Pokemon Go' Increases Availability of Hardest to Find Shiny Pokemon

A Shiny Pokemon previously available only in Japan is now being found around the world in Pokemon Go.

Earlier this month, Pokemon Go added the Shiny version of Sandshrew in Japan to celebrate a multi-week festival at the Tottori Sand Dunes. Sandshrew and Alolan Sandshrew were the mascots of the festival, so Pokemon Go added Shiny Sandshrew as part of a tie-in promotion.

Shiny Pokemon are alternate-colored versions of Pokemon that are usually quite rare. Shiny Sandshrew marked the first time that a Shiny Pokemon was only available in a specific area since the game started adding Shiny Pokemon back in 2017.

Since the Totorri Sand Dunes festival ended on December 19th, it seems that Pokemon Go has now made Shiny Sandshrew available around the world. Reports came in earlier today that the green-skinned Pokemon was now available to everyone. As with other Shiny Pokemon, Shiny Sandshrew is a permanent addition to the game, so there's no time crunch to find this Pokemon before it disappears.

Serebii Note: There are now reports of Shiny Sandshrew spawning outside of Tottori, Japan in Pokémon GO. We're currently investigating. //t.co/gDbXkHSvkT pic.twitter.com/lHaYLZMBAM

— Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet) December 22, 2018

In addition to Sandshrew, players can also now obtain Shiny versions of the holiday-themed Pokemon Delibird and the Marill family. Players can also look forward to adding a Shiny Totodile to their collection in January as part of Pokemon Go's monthly Community Day event.

Players will also get different bonuses between now and the end of the year thanks to the Holiday Event. Right now, players will get double candies for every Pokemon they catch or transfer. Starting on December 22nd, players will get double Stardust when they catch Pokemon. On December 26th, players will get double XP, and the event finishes off with decreased egg distances between December 30th and January 2nd.